The First Month...

Christian made it through the first month! And, perhaps more surprisingly, so did Mommy and Daddy! We all survived and Christian has seriously thrived. Even though he was 7lbs 3oz at birth, he dropped down to 6lbs 9oz in the hospital but is now weighing in at over 8lbs. He goes for his one month checkup later next week and they will give us all his stats, but since I am breastfeeding and there is no way to "regulate" his intake in ounces (after all it's going straight from my breast into his tummy...) I have been able to monitor his growth in these four ways (No, we don't have a scale at the house either. And don't ever suggest we get one because I would live on it!):

1) The most important indication that Christian is growing is the amount of poopy diapers he has every day. Even in the hospital he had no trouble in this arena. Every. Single. Diaper. Was a poopy diaper. (And since Mommy's girly parts had been stitched from here to Friday, you can only imagine how easy it was to maneuver up and down and all around every five minutes to change the little man's britches while in the hospital!)

Now that we are home he has plenty of poopy diapers ranging in color from khaki to yellow to olive (Sound like the colors of your fall wardrobe? Yummy!) But seriously, the BEST thing about breastfed babies is that their diapers have almost NO smell. Seriously. You wouldn't even know that he had poopty pewpty pants except for his EXTREME gas passing. Which is another subject entirely...but we may as well delve into it while we're here. Christian has gas. Bad, loud, raunchy gas. (*See Disclaimer) I don't know where he gets it from...probably Ken's side of the family. The end.

2) He can wear (almost) all the cute 0-3 month clothes we originally bought for him! YAY! This is HUGE considering he owned only two newborn outfits upon birth. Ken actually had to go home and figure out what in the heck our kid was going to wear home since EVERYTHING we owned was 0-3 months or bigger...(We were expecting a small elephant not a small child, remember???)

3) He feels heavier in his mommy's arms...awwww!

4) HE EATS ALL THE TIME!  And I don't hesitate to offer...if he's fussy and won't calm down, I feed him. If he can't sleep and is tired, I feed him. If I want to bond with him, I feed him. The breast seems to be the answer to every ailment for him at this point...(He really is living up to his "guy" status!)

This month Christian has accomplished a lot! Whereas you might be thinking that he's already graduated elementary school given his extreme intelligence, he's taking things a bit slower so as not to intimidate his peers. This month Christian has been able to:

Entertain himself and focus on an object

Lift his head when on his belly

Lift his head 45 degrees when on his stomach and even 90 degrees

Bring his hands together

Vocalize in ways other than crying such as cooing

Able to focus on a face

Christian sleeps a lot...just not all the way through the night yet. He usually wakes up at about 2am and 4am after going to bed at 11pm. He typically wants to eat a little bit and be comforted and then he falls right back to sleep. He prefers to sleep with someone or on someone. Go figure.

Sleeping in the bouncy

Sleeping at the hospital

Sleeping at Grandma's house

Sleeping on Mommy

Sleeping in the other bouncy (yes, he has two...)

Sleeping on Grandma

Sleeping with Daddy

Sleeping in the big bed

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Christian absolutely loves his daddy. A lot of times after a long day with Mommy a dose of Daddy is what Christian needs. Even though he has worked a looooong hard day, Daddy seems to have all the energy and excitement in the world to keep the little prince entertained. They have such a special relationship already, and since this isn't Ken's first rodeo he knows a lot about babies.

St.Patty's Day

s

At the hospital

Big boy time

At home

Everyone wants to know if Christian cries a lot...well, the answer is no...as long as we're doing what he wants. He seriously is not a fussy baby, but he's quick to let you know when he's not happy (just like any other baby!) And me, being a first time mom, wants him never to shed a tear so I guess you could say that he has me wrapped around his little finger...

 

Christian also adores his Grandma and Nanny. He has spent a lot of time with them throughout the first month. Thank goodness for their know-how and support...it's gotten me through some rough spots!

Here is a list of the essentials through the first month:

-His Boppy! I could not survive without it...he sits in it, nurses on it, sleeps on it and I use it as a pillow sometimes. 

-Desitin...his little bum is really sensitive, ok?!?!

-He mainly wore gowns and sleepers...he probably went through about 3-5 wardrobe changes a day due to spit up (plus he's super fashion forward and doesn't like to wear the same thing twice!)

-His bouncy seat was ok, but not his favorite toy. He loved his Ocean Adventure Playmat!

-His pacifiers were helpful, but not essential. He would rather be at the breast (typical male...)

-Burp rags and blankets!

-His travel system and diaper bag...since I have exactly one outfit that fits (it doesn't take that much time for me to get ready), all I have to do is grab his diaper bag and we are out the door! (Yeah, if you've seen me this month you know there ain't been much effort put into my glamorous appearance...)

Here is a list of stuff that we didn't use...like, at all:

-His crib...he liked to lay in his crib and look at the mobile for about ten minutes tops, but didn't sleep in it.

-Same thing with the bassinet...although we are going to try to use it more during month numero dos because Mommy would eventually like to be able to cuddle with Daddy if-ya-know-what-I-mean!

-Baby lotion...ummm, yeah, he wasn't a huge fan.

-Plastic bath tub...he'd rather just be in the bath free-stylin' it with Mommy.

-Swaddler wraps...he would rather cuddle with Mom and Dad because he saw that sign on our foreheads that says "SUCKER". Seriously, has the kid EVER had to sleep by himself or cry it out yet? I think not...

Well, that pretty well wraps up the first month of Christian's life...we've had a ball and love him more than anything. As Deanna said, "Hard to imagine how the world got along without him, isn't it?" And yes, it is. 

Even Christian gave us the "Okay!" sign for the first month!

* DISCLAIMER: Just for the record, that whole Ken's-side-of-the-family-gas-thing was just a joke. Ok? I have never heard my husband pass gas in almost 6 years...he wanted me to clarify this because if I didn't, he was going to do something mean to me. The real reason for Christian's gas is this: Breastfed babies have more gas because breast milk is ever changing. It's not the same day to day because the mother's diet and her chemical balance. It's not even the same at the beginning of a feeding than at the end! So, because formula is always the same, a formula fed baby needs only to get used to one kind of food. Thus a formula fed baby doesn't have as much gas. Make sense?